Ajez - Helpless
by Mini Goat
Summary: Jon is sidelined with a dangerous injury but no one will even tell Sammy if he's all right. Jack and Sam to the rescue.


**_AN:_**_ This is set during the epilog of __**Shai**__ but after __**Al-astamani**__. Sammy turns to the man she trusts the most to save the day._

**Ajez - Helpless**

Sammy jumped up and yelled encouragement to the center forward number 9 who had just taken control of the puck. Suddenly before his wingman could get across the ice between them the other team's leftwing forced him into the wall as the left defenseman plowed into the Mountain Springs forward, stick up, checking him hard. Thinking no one saw him the LD sucker punched 9 in the gut where his stick had drove into him moments before. The sandy haired forward crumpled in pain and his teammates rushed the offending Peak to Peak team members and the refs and coaches had to tear them off each other.

Meanwhile Sammy and her foster parents had run down the bleachers and moved the injured player away from the ice. He looked up at her gratefully. "I'm all right. It was just a cheap shot." He tried to reassure her but his eyes started to roll in his head. Wilson and Sammy immediately pushed him into the recovery position where he began to throw up, clutching his stomach.

"Uncle Wilson." She said to the late middle aged man, her voice trembling slightly.

He clapped a reassuring hand on her shoulder "I'm on it, kiddo." He motioned to his wife who walked across the ice to the coach who was arguing with his P2P counterpart.

"Jon is injured. We're taking him to the hospital." She told them both and glared daggers at the other coach.

"How bad is he, Mrs. Amos?" coach Stokes asked her, concern edging his eyes and voice.

"Well, he just vomited and he's clutching his stomach where he was sucker punched." She snarled out.

"Now wait just a minute! My boy was high sticking but no way do I believe he'd punch someone on purpose." The coach being glared at argued.

"I saw him do it!" Brian, Jon's wingman said skating over. He'd been trying to break up the fight himself in spite of how he felt about Conner's cheap shot.

"I saw him too!" Sammy yelled across the ice as she marched over, her eyes glittering with fury.

"Now look, I'm not calling you kids liars but you might be mistaken." The coach tried to defend his student.

"Sammy doesn't make mistakes like that. If she says the other kid punched Jon then the other kid punched Jon." Mary's eyes took on a glitter that matched the younger girl's.

"Bruce. Brian isn't a liar and he's got sharp eyes. That's not a mistake he'd make and he was looking directly at them when it happened as was Sammy I'm sure."

One of the refs who had been sorting out the fight skated over and looked at the collection of angry faces. "O'Neill is down. Wil is on the phone with the hospital. It might be quicker if you folks drive him yourself, they know he's on his way. Bruce, I'm calling Conner for high sticking and unsportsmanlike conduct. There are three witnesses that he punched O'Neill after he rammed him with the stick. Holms is taking a penalty as well for being in on that garbage. Get control of your team, Bruce, or I'll call a forfeit." The ref stared down the visiting team coach.

Bruce knew he was beat. "Send those two over. I'm taking them off the lineup for the rest of the game."

The ref nodded and skated away.

"You'll keep me appraised. Mare?" Mike Stokes asked her.

She patted his arm. "I'll keep you updated as I can. Sammy, let's go get Jon checked out. I'm sure he'll be fine but it's better to check." The blond girl nodded and walked back over to Jon who was gingerly sitting up with assistance from Wilson.

"I'm all right, sir. Just a little dizzy." Wil and Sammy looked at each other and both frowned. "What?"

"You know what. Hospital. Now." She ordered him.

"Oh fer cryin out loud." He groused but without much force as Sergeant Wilson Amos, Sammy's foster dad, gently helped him to his feet.

"Sammy is right, Jon. You need medical care. You're bleeding internally."

"Well, that's just great." Jon sighed. "Fine. Let's go."

"Aunt Mare, could you text Brian and have him grab Jon's gear?"

"Absolutely, sweetie." Mary texted Jon's best friend as they left the building while Wil and Sammy supported Jon from either side.

* * *

On the way to the hospital, Jon lay his head in Sammy's lap. In the front seat Wil Amos drove, his jaw set and his eyes narrowed with focus behind his aviators.

"How are you doing, Jon?" Mary asked the boy gently.

"I could do without the bumps in the road, Mrs. Amos." He admitted and she chuckled gently.

"Sorry about that son. I'm driving as gently as I can." Wil replied.

Jon waved dismissively. Sammy was stroking his hair and holding his other hand. "This seems familiar." He muttered softly up at her and she snorted in amusement in response.

"Shut up, dork." She managed trying not to laugh. He hummed and smiled a little. She shook her head.

"We're here, kids." Wil turned to tell them in the back seat. He'd pulled up to the side entrance for ambulances that he'd been directed to go to. Two PCTs were already bringing out a gurney to the side of the van and helping Jon onto it.

"Are any of you his parents?" One of the techs asked. Wil and Mary shook their heads. "Okay, you folks need to go to the waiting area then. It's through the main emergency entrance on your right. You can't miss it." They nodded and moved away.

"Sammy." Wil called her gently. The girl was holding Jon's hand again and looking at him with concern in her blue eyes.

"Go." Jon told her softly. "I'll be all right." She nodded, gave his hand a final squeeze and moved away towards the Amos'. The last thing he saw was Wil put his arm over her shoulder comfortingly and then he blacked out.

* * *

Sammy had sat miserable and listless between the Amos' twisting her hands in knots and running the calculations for stellar drift by hand in her head. Anything to keep her mind off the fact that there was no news yet. They had let them know Jon had been taken into surgery and then nothing at all and the charge nurse had changed shortly after and wouldn't give them any information at all. "Uncle Wil, can I borrow your phone?" she finally asked, wiping away a stray tear.

He regarded her silently for a moment and knew who she was most likely to call. "Sure." He keyed in his pass-code and handed it over.

"Thanks." She kissed his cheek and got up to dial the person who could get her the answers she needed.

"Who is she calling?" Marry leaned over and asked her husband softly.

"The Man." Wil snorted in amusement.

"Can't you be serious for once?" she narrowed her eyes.

"Oh I'm very serious. She's calling The Man." And he hugged her. If anyone could get them answers, it was Jack.

On the third ring, a familiar voice barked "O'Neill."

"Jack?! One of the other players hurt Jon really bad and we took him to the hospital but because none of us are his parents or guardian and he went into surgery and they won't tell us anything at all and I'm really scared." She had burst into tears at this point and half of what she said came out in tearful hiccups.

"Wait, slow down Sammy. I can barely understand you. What happened?"

"Jon got hurt by one of the other players. They hit him so hard he was bleeding internally." She sniffled. "So Wil and Mary took him to the hospital but now they won't tell us what's going on."

"All right. I can't do much from here but I'll send someone over as quick as possible. He'll be okay, Sammy. I've had worse than a beat down in hockey. I promise he'll be okay."

She nodded miserably even though she knew he couldn't see her. "Thank you Jack."

"You're welcome kiddo. Hang in there. Everything will be all right."

"Yes sir." She replied softly.

Jack chuckled at the automatic use of sir and cut the line so he could make a call.

Sammy walked over and handed back Wil his phone. "Thank you." She said softly and sat back down between the two concerned adults who both wrapped her in a hug. She started crying again.

"What did he say?" Wil asked her once she'd calmed down a bit.

"That someone would be here soon to get us some answers."

"Good." He said nodding. Mary looked at him questioningly. "My former CO is Jon's legal guardian. Since his promotion to Washington, his former 2IC has been handling Jon's legal matters for him. That's who Sammy called." Mary gave Wil a calculating look. Oh oh. He thought. I hope they brought another nondisclosure agreement. His wife was putting this together very quickly.

Twenty minutes nearly to the second, Sammy had been counting, Wil nudged her arm and looked up and over at the emergency main entrance. Sammy jumped up and ran to the familiar tall blond woman in blue BDUs, hugging her tightly. Wil watched as the woman hugged her back gently.

"Sam! Oh thank God. They won't tell me anything."

"It's okay. Jack told me what happened. Let's go get this handled." Sammy nodded with relief and followed the noticeably pregnant woman she'd been cloned from and whose memories she shared up until about five months ago.

The charge nurse looked up as they approached together. "May I help you?"

"I'm Colonel Samantha Carter. I'm here to ascertain the medical status of Jonathan O'Neill." She said evenly.

"Are you his parent or legal guardian?"

"No. My husband, General O'Neill is." She ground out seeing the problem Sammy had faced with this woman.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I can only give information on a minor to their legal guardians."

Sam glared balefully at the woman in front of her as she pulled a folded letter from a pocket on her blue base issue overshirt. "This is a signed affidavit giving me express legal permission to see to Jonathan O'Neill's medical needs. Now, I asked you for an update on his medical condition Nurse Bennett." Her blue eyes hardened.

"Yes ma'am." The nurse gritted out. She typed in several commands on the computer. "He's out of surgery and in recovery ma'am." She supplied.

"Good. Have someone take us to him and have his surgeon meet us there." Sam told her. She then walked over to the Amos'. "Wil, good to see you." She said smiling. "I'd prefer better circumstances."

"Me too Colonel Carter." He'd stressed her rank and barely cut his eyes to his wife who was looking at Sammy.

She nodded slightly "I'm going to take Sammy back with me to see how Jon is doing. I'll be back as soon as I have some answers for you."

"Thank you, Colonel."

She smiled gently and turned to the orderly who had shown up to retrieve them. "If you'll come with me, ma'am," the orderly asked her and she nodded, took Sammy's hand and followed the young man down the hall.

"So how exactly did he get hurt anyway? Jack said you were crying too hard for him to understand much."

"I'm sorry. I couldn't calm down." Sammy told her miserably.

"Hey, it's okay. I freak out every time Jack gets hurt and I don't have teenager emotions to deal with on top of feeling panicked." She squeezed the girl's shoulders. "So, what happened?"

"Jon had control of the puck and two of P2P's guys ran him into a wall and one of them deliberately rammed his stick in Jon's gut then punched him there for good measure." Sammy said, now angry again. "He didn't want to go to the hospital until dad told him he was bleeding internally." Sammy frowned then made an embarrassed O with her mouth. "Oh god I just called Mr. Amos 'dad', didn't I?"

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. He's a very nice man or Jack wouldn't have pulled strings to have them foster you."

"You've been digging."

"Well, I was a little concerned that his mind was on other things at the time."

Sammy looked pointedly at the gentle swell of Sam's stomach. "You're starting to show. How are you feeling?"

"Great now that I stopped needing twenty hours of sleep per day." She said with a grin, then gave the girl a firm look. "I expect you not to do anything stupid no matter how cute he is."

"Are you kidding? I've already told him about his super sperm."

Sam laughed into her hand. "I definitely need to tell Jack that one." She snorted.

"It was Jon's description so Jack might have thought of it already and just not said anything. He thought it was really hilarious by the way."

"I'm sure he did." Sam said still chuckling as the orderly showed them a mostly empty recovery room where Jon lay, still out cold in the corner. Sammy walked over to him and sat on a stool left next to his gurney and took his hand. Sam smiled. Some stuff just doesn't change much she thought. She wanted to call Jack and let him know what happened but she figured she may as well wait for the doctor to give her an update on his condition. Speak of the devil.

"Mrs. O'Neill?" the man in scrubs asked her.

Sam rolled her eyes in amusement. "It's Doctor, actually. But yes."

"Oh, sorry Doctor. I'm Doctor Denis Lipnick, Jonathan's surgeon. I was told you had some questions?" He was a friendly looking thin balding man with a mid-western accent.

"No problem. What's his status?"

"He's had some internal bleeding, bruising on his left kidney, liver. His prognosis is good if he gets some rest. We're going to keep him a couple days for observation than he can go home with you and your husband."

It had been an easy assumption but Sam smiled inwardly. Not that Jack wouldn't do it but the house was small and Jon would have to sleep on the couch and it was far enough from the Amos' house to inconvenience Wil driving back and forth which he'd end up doing and Sam would be in Nevada so Jack would have two bored teenagers to contend with. She had a better idea that might make nearly everyone happier but especially Jon who would feel like a burden in his own home and who might not handle being there very well anyway.

"Thank you, doctor. I'm not going to be able to stay for long but my niece and her parents can." She told him. "They will keep me up to date. I'm afraid I have commitments I can't abandon at the moment." That probably sounds like some really bad parenting Sam thought but wasn't terribly concerned. It was only chance that she'd even been on base today checking on some equipment SG9 had brought back from P3Y-142 that was in fragile condition and not in any shape to be moved. She bet Teal'c showing up might have terrified that charge nurse without a legal notice. Her mouth twitched in amusement.

"Very well. I'll let the nurses know." His voice showed disapproval but Sam couldn't care less at the moment.

She walked back over to Sammy and looked at Jon affectionately. "How's he doing?"

"Still out of it." Sammy told her, absently stroking Jon's hair the same way Sam had often stroked Jack's when he'd been out cold after surgery.

Sam was suddenly very glad Jack had talked her into letting Loki clone her as an insurance policy. Sure, she might be slightly important as one of the foremost authorities on gate travel but Jon deserved happiness too and she knew without a doubt Jon had been brooding instead of living his life because that's exactly what Jack had done the entire time she'd dated Pete. He might have moved on emotionally eventually but his heart would have suffered for it and he'd been through enough already. Further emotional pain wouldn't have done him any good and who knows what the outcome would have been today without Wil and Sammy's quick thinking.

"You going to be okay by yourself?" she asked the girl.

Sammy nodded not taking her eyes off the boy slumbering in front of her.

Sam smiled gently. "Okay, I'll have the charge nurse let Wil and his wife know when they are ready to move him to a room. I'll make sure you all have clearance to see him including any of his friends if they want to check on him."

"Thanks, Sam. I owe you one."

"You know you don't."

"Okay. By the way why didn't Daniel come?"

"He left for Atlanta already"

"Oh. Oh yah. I didn't think he'd have left so soon for some reason."

Sam smiled. "You did have some things on your mind. I'll keep in touch. Call me or Jack if he takes a turn for the worse, okay?"

"I will." The girl nodded and Sam gave her a quick hug before leaving her to her vigil.

Sam walked back the way she'd come and found Wil and his wife. "Sammy is with him now. They got the bleeding stopped and he should be fine. They want to keep him a couple days for observation." Both sagged with relief which made Sam's decision "Wil, Jack is in Washington until next week and I need to get back to Nevada tomorrow but I'm not comfortable letting Jon go home to an empty apartment."

"Say no more." Mary interjected. "We'd be happy to take him home with us until he's well enough to be on his own." Wil nodded his agreement.

"Thank you both. I could hire an in home nurse if you need help." She offered.

"I think we can handle it, Colonel. I have first responder and basic medical care training." Mary told her.

"My wife's parents had severe medical problems as they got older and she was their primary caregiver. I'm sure she's up to it." Wil told Sam smiling. "Jon will be in very capable hands." He chuckled. "Besides I think Sammy would feel much better if she can keep an eye on him herself."

Sam snorted. "Undomesticated equines, Wil. Thank you. I really appreciate it. I know how he eats. I'll have an SF run you over a check to cover expenses."

"You don't have to do that…"

"Oh no, I definitely do, Mrs. Amos." Sam grinned. "I'd bet my hazard pay he's held back eating at your house trying not to be rude then gone home and had a second dinner. He eats his weight in Froot Loops daily alone."

Mary looked at her husband "He is a teenage boy, Mare. I'd have done that."

Mary shook her head. "He shouldn't feel that way in our home. I'll make sure he eats until he's full."

"Thank you, ma'am. I'm going to go now. Wil, if you need anything, you'll call the General or myself?"

"Absolutely Ma'am." He told her firmly.

Sam nodded and left.

"I like her." Mary told her husband.

"I knew you would. She's one of the nicest people I know."

"Sammy seems very familiar with her."

Wil didn't say anything for a moment. "Her husband is Jon's uncle, sort of. He's the only family Jon has now along with his wife."

"How far along is she?"

"Huh?"

"Wil I know a pregnant woman when I see one. How far along is she.?"

"Oh I don't know, four or five months? Something like that. I'm honestly not really sure."

"Men never pay attention to anything."

"I was busy doing my job instead of pursuing base gossip Miss nosy butt." He told her chuckling. "Besides she outranks me so I couldn't exactly just ask."

"You had your nose stuck in a novel and didn't even notice."

"How could you think that of me, Mare?" he asked in mock shock.

* * *

Back in recovery Jon slowly opened his eyes and looked at the source of the hand stroking his hair. "This place again, huh." He croaked out, his mouth terribly dry from the anesthesia.

"You must like it here." She teased him. "How do you feel?"

"Like I got hit in the gut by a staff weapon." He admitted.

"Sounds like a normal day then." She leaned over him and looked him square in the eyes. "You ever scare me like that again, Jonathan O'Neill, and I will personally hurt you in ways you won't recover from." But she augmented her angry words with a surprisingly gentle kiss on the lips he'd not expected that sent a small thrill up his spine and his heart monitor beeped erratically for a moment. She smiled at the monitor rather smugly. "I'll go tell the nurse you're awake." She squeezed his hand and went around the corner to the nurse's station.

Yup. Just a normal day Jon thought then smiled sloppily because Sammy had kissed him. On the mouth. And it had felt exactly the way he'd remembered her kisses making him feel. Oh yah. He was screwed.


End file.
